Dan

Day 3 Ian’s up early again and off with the rowboat under Wroxham bridge eager to catch another Pike. We all have showers and I decide to go for a mooch at Barnes Brinkcraft’s yard. It’s Sunday and two staff seem to be working. With some bad press over customer service and boat standards I’m keen to have a look at the boats and ask to look inside a couple. Both the guys seem friendly and knowledgeable and are happy for me to have a look. I’m off inside Brinks Harmony 1 quicker than a rat up a drainpipe!! The boats only a couple of years old and seems quite nice to me, the worktops look especially good being one moulded piece and the inside and out all looks quite acceptable to me. Then I’m off into Brinks Melody 2, really a variation on a similar theme and of equal standard, the carpets look new and as though the boat is reasonably well cared for and quite ok to me. Still, a quick look at the price list means that they are forced down the list of boats I’ve still got to hire ASAP! Once everyone’s back we set off on our return trip, we hope to moor at the Ferry Inn at Horning and this time are successful, but only just, squeezing into the last mooring spot! Nic and Michael are off to the arcade whilst I’m off to have a mooch around Ferry Marina and to see Freedom Boating Holidays new site. It’s nice to see some hirefleets at Horning again, one of my favourite places in Broadland, and hopefully this will give us more options to moor here next year. The couple of boats at Ferry that are all branded and painted ready for next years hirefleet look smart and I cant wait to see all the boats they’ve got when the brochures come out soon! Freedom’s site looks to be under improvements, and once the old buildings there are down will no doubt be a nice little spot, their boats too all look quite appealing. Back to the boat and off back towards Stalham, we moor at the same spot as our first night, to the trees just at the edge of Barton Broad, a lovely spot, but no more fish seem to be interested in being caught. We all watch Peter Kay’s take on the X Factor, and after much laughter later we are off to bed. The next morning it’s the sad last half hour trip back to Richardsons, in convoy with other boats all heading back. Once back we turn into Swan Quay and are impressed there’s lots of staff on hand to help our return, they direct us to the bottom of the quay and we squeeze into our space without disaster or boat bumping! The staff look relieved and we imagine that this is often quite an entertaining spot to watch the fun and games of boats returning! Back in the car, only five hours to go until we’re home and that’s it for 2008. Thank goodness for the forums to tied me over to my next boating trip in March… only five months to last out! Dan

Hi Everyone Yeah - definately not safe to go in the water huh! On with the tale... Day 2 We are woken just before 8 by Ian banging and crashing about in the galley making an early morning brew! Then he’s off in the dinghy for a bit more fishing. Once everyone’s up we decide to head to Potter Heigham to visit Lathams for a good rummage for a bargain! Despite hiring from Richardsons more times than I can remember we always seem to forget that the glasses they provide are for some reason of the miniature, one mouthful variety! So off we set on a rather long trip to get some more suitably sized ones! We cruise the Ant, past the beautiful houses at Irstead and through Ludham bridge. Then it’s up to Potter and past the riverside hits and houses… we all enjoy looking at all the different shapes and sizes, varying from glorified huts to thatched luxury abodes! The moorings at Potter are all full, no space for our 44ft river-bus, so we trundle into Herbert Woods, but it’s Saturday so their front pool looks chocka-block. We cruise to the rear pool and trundle along their stacks of boats that are sat in unhired, we’re now running out of options but at the last minute spot a space and with the help of the bow thrusters were quickly tied up. We get some glasses at Lathams and leave the girls searching for bargains whilst we go for a wander around the Herbert Woods boats and I have a nosey inside one or two! Then it’s the customary perusal of the boats for sale, there’s a few Safari’s and Calypso’s I like the look of, but remember I must be strong and resist! After some lunch we are off to Horning, it’s Saturday and there’s a lot of sailies out, with a couple of exceptions few seem to be in friendly mood but all are passed successfully without too many difficulties. By we near Horning we have an excited eight year old looking forward to getting to the Ferry to spend some money in their arcade and win a teddy as has now become a tradition. Sadly he is to be disappointed as the moorings are nose to tail full as are the moorings on the other bank so we trundle on. My crew are amazed that it’s October and we cannot moor in Horning. I’m not too fussed but do consider the moorings at places people want to stop quite inadequate and wonder how many people, like my crew who might be put off a return holiday because of this concern and irritation. It’s decided to head for Wroxham so we can waste some money there instead, I’m hoping as it’s now later in the afternoon there will be boatyard moorings free as due to high tides we cannot pass under the bridge. We see that what last year was the GoBoating site that had public moorings on the riverside is now fully private since being taken over Barnes Brinkcraft but we spy a mooring near the Sail Loft at Barnes Brinkcraft’s main site, we decide to reverse in so we are facing the bridge and river and luckily the bow thrusters make this an easy task. Off into Wroxham and we spend a bit of money in the arcade, I waste a bit of money trying to win a Bagpuss(!) but to no avail and then back to the boat to make sure we can get a TV signal for tonight is X factor night! The onboard bar is open and we all sit down to enjoy the live show… I know this is a love or hate show but we really did love it. Ian is missing.. he’s off in the dinghy and then as it gets dark fishing from the bank near the mouth of our little mooring inlet. Then, a loud bang at the window!! It’s an excited fisherman! Ian has caught a Pike and we all rush out to have a look and take a picture before it’s returned to the water! It’s good to see one properly, apparently it’s not as big as he has had before but it looked a bit of a whopper to me… And so to bed… we’re happy with the X Factor result, on a boat and all suitably light headed…. All is well with the world

Another pic...

Hi Everyone Here's the little tale of my recent holiday(s)! First of all I spent 3 nights with my Mum and Dad onboard "Guildford Duchess", a 67ft 8/10 berth narrowboat from Guildford Boathouse on the River Wey. My Sister & her boyfriend joined us for two days and the weather was superb apart from one day of rain! We had fun with the boat... managing to get it stuck sideways on a cross flow section for about 20 minutes after which my usual approach of persistence accompanied by much foul language would see us heading the correct way again eventually. My Dad also managed to get his foot caught up in the rope at one point whilst we weren't watching him, thouigh eventually we did hear his shouting... I've just managed to stop laughing at that one! Anyway, Thursday night it was back up north ready for the next part of our trip! Friday morning and I was off again, this time with my other half and some friends, this time the Sat Nav programmed to Richardsons of Stalham! Amazingly despite an 8am start everyone was up and ready and in high spirits. Ian especially is like an excited child (but in his early thirties!).... the only person I've ever known more excited at the thought of a boating holiday than me! With 6 of us in the car space is at a premium, the girls seem to have misunderstood and think we are travelling by Winnebago, but eventually, after a Krypton Factor style ten minutes everything fits in! Five slow hours later and we pull into Tesco of Stalham. Because it's holiday time I havelifted the usual strict Tesco ban that is enforced in our house and we fill our trolleys, paying careful attention to the alcohol and crisp aisle! Once these essentials are selected everyone is tasked with other items to find, and we do our own version of Supermarket Sweep as we are all keen to get to the boatyard and away! This possibly is not favoured by the locals as we feel quite unwelcome and like the out of towners, everyone else seems to know one another but we're going boating, so no disapproving looks will bother us today. The shop is loaded into the car, and once everyone is suitable surrounded and squeezed back in we are off down the road and into RIchardsons. The sun is shining and we're off to reception. Brenda completes our paperwork and advises us of the note on their paperwork to say we arent paying for our car parking... we try our best to look unsuprised and venture on to collect lifejackets and hairdryer from the friendly chap who seems to live in the lifejacket hut and is always happy. The girls are over the moon that we've got something actually resembling a 'normal' hairdryer as we have a boat with 240v although are disappointed the man doesnt also have a stock of boat friendly straighteners!! We depart before any further requests get made :-D We've booked 44ft floating caravan "Supreme", we know it's been newly refitted after being totally stripped out to a bare shell again so we're expecting a nice boat and arent disappointed. There's plenty of space and nice wide beds... everyones quite happy, and Ian likes his fishing deck at the front! The boatyard gives us a run through before unloading because they have staff free... as ever the boatyard seems to be an efficient well staffed & run operation, everyones friendly and we're soon sailing off into the sunshine! Ian wins the debate of where to moor for night one and tied to trees at the end of Barton Broad wins out to a few of the pubs. We're soon there and we're moored up. For £18 we've hired a small rowing dinghy and I'm talked into going out with Ian on the hunt for Pike! We row to the reeds at the edge of the Broad and swap over. Swapping places in the rowing dinghy seems a bit like playing twister to me... we manage it though and the boat eventually stops rocking. Already gone are any day to day stresses and all is well with the world. The weather's perfect and it's nice to chill out on the Broad. We drift along near the reeds, Ian fishing whilst I try and navigate and row us not too near to the reeds, making a bit of a mess of it but totally loving it all. Then, all of a sudden we've caught something. Ian reels it in but realises it has split the hook (or some similar fishing techno-babble) so does not want to try and catch it into the net... possibly as well as I can imagine my amateur net wielding may see us in the water! Ian's getting excited as it's apparent that already we have caught an illusive pike that we're chasing on this once yearly holiday with my friends. I get my camera as I know those on the boat won't believe us and Ian struggles to bring it in and land it without the net. A lot of splashing and fighting ensues and the Pike gets away, but we're happy and Ian is like a cat thats got the cream! We mooch about in the rowboat for another hour or so but no more bites, so it's back to the boat for our dinner and an early night as everyone starts to flag after a long day, even copious amounts of Lager and Vodka cannot revive us, despite our best efforts.... off to bed ready for another day of fun and chilling out tomorrow.

Hello Ewan Here's a few pictures I have of them. Quite reasonable, good value, mid standard craft I've always thought, though I've always thought whoever thought the blue & orange was a good combination must have been colour-blind! :-D There are more luxurious boats but not without spending a lot more so quite good boats for the money I think. This style of boat tends to be very quiet as the engine is normally outside at the rear, and the back 'patio' area can be nice to sit out on in good weather, as can the central saloon with lots of seating and that great canopy that can be lowered to enjoy any sun! Have a great holiday, Dan

I booked one of the 45 footers in France, then the company decided to bring the boat back to the Broads (a bit ironic I guess) so we had to change to a Continentale (only available abroad). The company is well respected and we found the French operation very professional. The boats in the UK always look slightly better turned out than those abroad (possibly due to the French locks increasing the number of scuffs & bruises) so I'm sure you'll be very happy. I like the style and layouts very much, I'd probably hire them in the UK if they weren't priced at the very top of the market.... almost that bit too ambitious in my mind, but undoubtedly good boats Dan

Lol! Sounds like a fun challenge! Definately nearing an age I need to keep quiet on too! I'll get my coat, I mean anorak! Dan

Concerto is only a 4 berth, and they have five in the class. There is no current hireboat called Mediteranean. It is a term sometimes used to refer to a Bounty 44 - like Ultimate Gem for examlple so that could be what they mean. The last hireboat called Mediteranean was retired at least 7 or 8 years ago from Horning Pleasurecraft and was an Aquafibre 44. Bearing in mind all the above the advice sounds a bit irratic to me! All the best Dan

Hi Flanaguff Unfortunately I think the problem is that the type of boat you're hiring is a tight fit for Potter so quite regularly can't go through. In reality I think you have to look to quite a different boat type to have a high chance of getting through - something like a Bounty 27, and they go through because as well as being low they are also narrower and a different shape. Sadly these type of boats, or Safari's etc etc do not seem to fit your party profile and I cannot think of any narrower beam 6 berths at the minute, I guess that means there aren't many of them! Alternatively you may have to hire a very different boat style, such as a traditional cruiser from Martham which again then work better for similar reasons to the Bounty 27 but is far less luxurious than your recent choosings. I would look to Whispering Reeeds Canada Goose - a nice boat inside, despite the dubious colour scheme and John and his Mum give superb service and well turned out boats so no problem there. Of course again being a 12ft beam she is the hardest to get through of the fleet, but being north of the bridge the company are used to working around/with the bridge problem and your chance of cruoising above Potter is much increased... though again if water levels are high you may start or end your cruise the other side of the bridge, but surely your best chance. I think the problem with your suggested shortlist is all the boats are very similar to one another & to Royall Diamond in height, width and dimensions so I cant see any of them being much better. This said it's possible the Connoisseur may be as they are designed with Wroxham bridge very much in mind, but of course this is nothing of a restriction compared to the dimensions of Potter', so hopefully someone may know the aiurdraught/chances on those. All the best Dan

Hi Simon Some wonderful snaps there! My own tip for a perfect photograph would be to turn camera on, hold correct way up & ensure lens cover removed, then wait for Richardsons boat to appear and snap! Of course if Richardsons boats are illusive accept another other hirecraft as a close second Dan P.S Pleased to see that in at least one of your snaps you'd applied my trusted method!

Hello Gandalf & Andy Unfortunately we are over a bit earlier than you so we will miss each other. Have a great holiday each of you though.... Maybe catch up another year! Dan

Hi Shaun What a great report, and congratulations on the engagement. Glad you enjoyed it, I too thought the service at Whispering Reeds was super, genuinely nice likeable people doing a great job Take care Dan

final one I have

Hi Andy I had a look in April. The interior was mostly original (possibly why one of their cheaper Bounty 37's?) but in quite tidy condition with new looking floor coverings. Here are a few pictures I took - cant remember if I added them to the NBF hireboat site or not, so apolagies if you've already seen them The Bounty 37's are great holiday boats I think... may well book one myself next year (got a 44ft booked for this Oct). All the best Dan

Well for the first time I have cancelled a holiday. Now there's only eight of us going I decided Richardsons Broads Serenade was better value and, most importantly the perfect layout for us with four double cabins. I lost the £15 early deposit and feel a little bad for changing my mind but am looking forward to it! Only 7 months to go! . Dan

Yes I agree, the dual steer boats are great in that respect, the often increased air draught being the only downside I guess. I rather like the 35ft new Alpha dual steers, though I wonder what made Faircraft go with such an oddly shaped aft cabin window - a big spoil on their appearance compared to Swan Ranger, Brinks Concerto etc of the same mould, but I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder! Dan

Hi Folks I was hoping to catch Joe's (or anyone else's)attention as I was wondering what she thought of this boat after her holiday, and if there were any internal pictures..... I'm already thinking to next years holidays now (it's more exciting than the mountain of paperwork on my desk!!) All the best Dan

Hi Folks That little problem seems to have been fixed and they appear normally now. Interestingly no more craft have been added to the list of boats to sale from the Moores fleet... so I'm hoping next year Barnes Brinkcraft will be running them again despite rumours that all would be sold - ? All the best Dan

Hello Everyone Shaun - Glad the info was of use. Have a brilliant time! The boats will all go under Potter Heigham Bridge, and they will give you good advice over when best to arrive there at the boatyard. The Grey Goose fit through the easiest of all the fleet, which will make it even less of a restriction, because they are quite low and also not as wide as some, which again makes them well suited to the bridge. A pilot will take you through the bridge - worth asking them the process/best advice as to your return trip under. They asked us to ring them Thurs pm, which we did and they then advised us yep no problems arrive whenever you want on Friday - so this was easy, but if levels are higher then can advise you when best to turn up. Simon - Thanks for your kind words there, Jonny is right, they are know as either Bounty 27 or as Elysian 27 (like Grey Goose 4) and New Elysian (like Grey Goose 2&3). Bounty used the Elysian name as it was already well established when they bought the mould tools when previous manufacturer Appleyard Lincoln shut up shop, Bounty put a new top design on the hull, and later another new top - the 'New Elysian'. There's a bit more on them on my website page http://www.dhorner.horning.org.uk/bountyaftcockpit.html Grey Goose 2&3 are 'proper Bountys' - they were built and fitted at Bounty Boats, originally in their hirefleet/to show the model to potential purchaers. Grey Goose 4 has joined Whispering Reeds more recently bought from a private owner, but was at one time with Bridgecraft. I am not sure where she was fitted, as many Bounty's designs were produced by other companies as Bounty willingly sold the moulds to anyone wanting them to produce their own. All the best Dan

Hello Shaun & Jill I hired Grey Goose 4 in April. The boat was nicely presented, immicaulately clean, and the fixed berths were made up for our arrival - something many yards don't do. Jon & his Mum who own and run the yard are two of the nicest people I have ever met.... all a good combination for a great trip and I'm sure you'll get some good, useful tuition from them. Do you know which Grey Goose you are on? Grey Goose 2 & 3 have different layouts to number 4 that we had, and I think the interiors are a little different in fitout style. The Grey Goose's were built in the early '80's so are not the most luxurious or modern craft (as you probably guessed from their pricing compared to newer models) but have everything onboard you'd want to be comfortable, and their nicely maintained. The size of boat is easy to steer/handle, so that will also be fine despite no previous experience - not a problem. I will post a few piccies here for you of Grey Goose 4, I know forum member Jonzo is out on Grey Goose 2 or 3 before August - so maybe he might have some piccies for you soon if you're out on number 2 or 3 in the class. Enjoy your trip, all the best Dan

Hmm... that does seem mysterious. When I click on them I get a 'voat not found' message, just on the goboating ones as mentioned, I'm sure that that didnt happen when they first appeared. I hope they stay on hire with other operators, as they are all quite smart boats, and we liked Royal Star when we had her last year, even though the goboating service was a bit pants All the best Dan

Hi Andy I don't know for sure, it may vary from one boat in the class to another, but whenever I've been with them (a fair few times now!) we've always had whats advertised in the brochure, so chances are Video, but maybe worth taking both, or emailing them with your concern of arriving with the wrong selection! Enjoy your trip, I do like the interior of the Rhapsody's, I must get round to hiring one one time! All the best Dan

Yeah I can to be honest - Aston Sierra is like Sparkling Light which only joined them for last season & always seems to be booked, Aston Sunrise is like Florida Light which seem to book well, Aston Arran would fit fine, their four or five 35-38ft Aquafibre centre cockpits & the 32ft dual steer is also going to fit into their mass of mid price, mid standard 4-6berths at Herbert Woods, but yes, not at Faircraft as they always have the boats from new. It will be my first hiring with them, and I chose them as I wanted a big (11 berth!) of good standard & they seemed to fit the bill with a layout that was quite suitable. All the best Dan

Ello again Well that does seem to make sense as what they were meaning, though I think the last owner Len Funnell was very much a businessman so I'm sure the profit sheets were high on his list too, but maybe the owners rubbed that yard guy up the wrong way, at the minute at least. I rather like how they steadily build a handful of new boats each year, and whilst Herbert Woods seem to be a bit of a variable standard in my mind, rather than all be maintained to a consistent/always decent level it is good to see that the group often buys other craft to keep the fleet fresh and the average age of boat staying ok. I was wondering if they had bought the Aston Fleet as recently its only been this group that seem to bulk buy/buy an entire fleet thats closing? Dan

Hi Folks Yes, I seem to remember that when Len Fuinnell sold Faircraft And HW etc they were bought by one of the high up perople working for them, was it the funding manager or similar? I'm hoping if they have changed hands just now that they continue to invest in new craft, as they have long been a company with a young hirefleet and seem to have survived quite well on that basis. Dan